The present invention generally relates to authenticating semiconductor-based integrated circuit (IC) wafers. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods, systems, and computer program products that authenticate IC wafers using mask fingerprinting.
In electronic circuit or chip design, a physically un-clonable function (PUF) is an identifying characteristic specific to a particular circuit, which can securely and uniquely identify or authenticate the circuit, like a fingerprint. Ideally, the characteristics are stable in time (e.g., resistant to ageing), stable under variations in measurement conditions (e.g., current, voltage and external/environmental measurement conditions such as temperature), and impossible to duplicate physically or mathematically. Any manipulation or modification to the circuit or the chip must also modify these characteristics so that reading this identifier can guarantee integrity of the circuit or the chip.